Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same

ABSTRACT

Described is a method for fabricating a semiconductor device having an FET of a trench-gate structure obtained by disposing a conductive layer, which will be a gate, in a trench extended in the main surface of a semiconductor substrate, wherein the upper surface of the trench-gate conductive layer is formed equal to or higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. In addition, the conductive layer of the trench gate is formed to have a substantially flat or concave upper surface and the upper surface is formed equal to or higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate. Moreover, after etching of the semiconductor substrate to form the upper surface of the conductive layer of the trench gate equal to or higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, a channel region and a source region are formed by ion implantation. The semiconductor device thus fabricated according to the present invention is free from occurrence of a source offset.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a semiconductor device, particularly, atechnique effective when adapted to a semiconductor device having atrench-gate structure.

A power transistor has been used for various applications including apower amplifier circuit, power supply circuit, converter and powersupply protective circuit. Since it treats high power, it is required tohave high breakdown voltage and to permit high current.

In the case of MISFET (Metal Insulator Semiconductor Field EffectTransistor), high current can be attained easily by an expansion of achannel width. In order to avoid an increase in a chip area caused byexpansion of a channel width, a mesh-gate structure is, for example,employed.

Gates are two-dimensionally arranged in the form of a lattice in themesh-gate structure so that a channel width per unit chip area can beenlarged. A description of an FET having a mesh-gate structure can befound on pages 429 to 430 of “Semiconductor Handbook” published byOhmsha Limited or U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,721.

For such a power FET, a planar structure has conventionally beenemployed because its fabrication process is simple and an oxide filmwhich will be a gate insulating film can be formed easily. In theabove-described U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,721 shown is an FET having a planarstructure.

The FET having a planar structure is however accompanied with thedrawbacks that when a gate is formed narrowly, the channel lengthbecomes short and a short-channel effect appears because the channellength is determined depending on the gate length; or when a gate isformed narrowly, an allowable current decreases because the gate hasadditionally a function of wiring. It is therefore impossible to conductminiaturization freely. With the foregoing in view, adoption of an FEThaving a trench-gate structure is considered because it can improve theintegration degree of cells and in addition, reduce an on resistance.

The trench-gate structure is formed by disposing, via an insulatingfilm, a conductive layer, which will serve as a gate, in a trenchextended in the main surface of a semiconductor substrate and in thisstructure, the deeper portion and the outer surface portion of the mainsurface serve as a drain region and a source region, respectively and asemiconductor layer between the drain and source regions serves as achannel forming region. Such a structure is described, for example, inU.S. Pat. No. 5,918,114.

The present inventors developed a technique for introducing impuritiesinto a source region or channel forming region of an MISFET having atrench-gate structure after the formation of a trench gate with a viewto preventing a deterioration of a gate insulating film or a fluctuationin a threshold voltage owing to the impurities in the source region orchannel forming region and have already applied for a patent as U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/137,508.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With an advance of the miniaturization of a device, there is a tendencyto make the source region shallower. When the source region becomesshallower, however, it becomes difficult to place a trench gate at aprecise position and the end portion of the trench gate does not overlapwith the source region. If a source offset occurs, in other words, thetrench gate gets out of the source region, by inaccurate positioning ofthe trench gate, this source offset impairs the functioning of the FET.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable ofovercoming the above-described problem and preventing the occurrence ofa source offset.

The above-described and the other objects and novel features of thepresent invention will be apparent from the description herein andaccompanying drawings.

Among the inventions disclosed by the present application,representative ones will next be summarized simply.

Provided is a semiconductor device equipped with an FET of a trench-gatestructure having a conductive layer, which will be a gate, disposed in atrench extended in the main surface of a semiconductor substrate,wherein the upper surface of the trench-gate conductive layer or gateelectrode is formed equal to or higher than the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate.

Also provided is a semiconductor device equipped with an FET of atrench-gate structure having a conductive layer, which will be a gate,disposed in a trench extended in the main surface of a semiconductorsubstrate, wherein the trench-gate conductive layer (gate electrode) hasa substantially flat or convex upper surface and this upper surface ofthe trench-gate conductive layer is formed equal to or higher than themain surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Also provided is a semiconductor device equipped with an FET of atrench-gate structure having a conductive layer, which will be a gate,disposed in a trench extended in the main surface of a semiconductorsubstrate, wherein the upper surface of the trench-gate conductive layeris formed equal to or higher than the main surface of the semiconductorsubstrate and the trench gate has, at the terminal portion thereof, afield relaxing portion disposed.

Also provided is a fabrication method of a semiconductor device equippedwith an FET of a trench-gate structure having a conductive layer, whichwill be a gate, disposed in a trench extended in the main surface of asemiconductor substrate, which comprises:

-   -   forming a trench, wherein a trench-gate will be formed, in the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate;    -   forming a gate insulating film in the trench,    -   forming a trench gate in the trench,    -   forming an insulating film over the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation so that the film on        the trench gate becomes thicker than that on the main surface of        the semiconductor substrate by making use of the accelerated        oxidation phenomenon,    -   removing the insulating film by etching and while leaving the        thickly formed insulating film on the trench gate, exposing the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and    -   selectively removing the semiconductor substrate relative to the        insulating film by etching, thereby forming the upper surface of        the trench gate covered with the insulating film equal to or        higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Also provided is a fabrication method of a semiconductor device equippedwith an FET of a trench-gate structure having a conductive layer, whichwill be a gate, disposed in a trench extended in the main surface of asemiconductor substrate, which comprises:

-   -   forming a trench, wherein a trench-gate will be formed, on the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate;    -   forming a gate insulating film in the trench,    -   forming a trench gate in the trench,    -   forming an insulating film over the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation so that the film on        the trench gate becomes thicker than that on the main surface of        the semiconductor substrate by making use of the accelerated        oxidation phenomenon,    -   removing the insulating film by etching and while leaving the        thickly formed insulating film on the trench gate, exposing the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate,    -   selectively removing the semiconductor substrate relative to the        insulating film by etching, thereby forming the upper surface of        the trench gate covered with the insulating film equal to or        higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and    -   subsequent to the selective etching, introducing impurities from        the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, thereby forming        a channel forming region and a source region.

Also provided is a fabrication method of a semiconductor device equippedwith an FET of a trench-gate structure having a conductive layer, whichwill be a gate, disposed in a trench extended in the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate, which comprises:

-   -   forming a trench, wherein a trench-gate will be formed, on the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate,    -   forming a gate insulating film in the trench,    -   forming a polycrystalline silicon film, which will be a        conductive film for the trench gate, all over the main surface        of the semiconductor substrate,    -   removing the polycrystalline silicon film by using etching and        multi-stage oxidation in combination, thereby forming, in the        trench, a trench gate having a substantially flat or concave        upper surface,    -   forming an insulating film over the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation so that the film on        the trench gate becomes thicker than that on the main surface of        the semiconductor substrate by making use of accelerated        oxidation phenomenon,    -   removing the insulating film by etching and while leaving the        thickly formed insulating film on the trench gate, exposing the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate,    -   selectively removing the semiconductor substrate relative to the        insulating film by etching, thereby forming the upper surface of        the trench gate covered with the insulating film equal to or        higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and    -   subsequent to the selective etching, introducing impurities from        the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, thereby forming        a channel forming region and a source region.

Described is a fabrication method of a semiconductor device equippedwith an FET of a trench-gate structure having a conductive layer, whichwill be a gate, disposed in a trench extended in the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate, which comprises:

-   -   disposing a field relaxing portion at the terminal portion of        the trench gate,    -   forming a trench, wherein a trench-gate will be formed, on the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate;    -   forming a gate insulating film in the trench,    -   forming a trench gate in the trench,    -   forming an insulating film over the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation so that the film on        the trench gate becomes thicker than that on the main surface of        the semiconductor substrate by making use of accelerated        oxidation phenomenon,    -   removing the insulating film by etching and while leaving the        thickly formed insulating film on the trench gate, exposing the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate,    -   selectively removing the semiconductor substrate relative to the        insulating film by etching, thereby forming the upper surface of        the trench gate covered with the insulating film equal to or        higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, and    -   subsequent to the selective etching, introducing impurities from        the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, thereby forming        a channel forming region and a source region.

Also provided is a fabrication method of a semiconductor device, whichcomprises:

-   -   forming a trench, wherein a trench-gate will be formed, on the        main surface of the semiconductor substrate;    -   forming a gate insulating film in the trench,    -   forming a trench gate in the trench,    -   forming an insulating film over the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate by thermal oxidation so that the film on        the trench gate becomes thicker than that on the main surface of        the semiconductor substrate by making use of the accelerated        oxidation phenomenon,    -   forming a mask film over the insulating film on the trench gate,    -   removing the insulating film by isotropic etching by using the        mask film and while leaving the insulating film formed thickly        on the trench gate, exposing the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate, and    -   selectively removing the semiconductor substrate relative to the        insulating film by etching, thereby forming the upper surface of        the trench gate covered with the insulating film equal to or        higher than the main surface of the semiconductor substrate.

Also provided is a fabrication method of a semiconductor device, whichcomprises:

-   -   (1) forming a semiconductor layer containing first conductivity        type impurities over the main surface of a semiconductor body        containing first conductivity type impurities,    -   (2) forming a field insulating film in a selected region on the        main surface of the semiconductor layer,    -   (3) forming a trench in the semiconductor layer,    -   (4) forming a gate insulating film over the surface inside of        the trench,    -   (5) embedding a gate layer inside of the trench wherein the gate        insulating film has been formed,    -   (6) etching the main surface of the semiconductor layer so that        the main surface of the semiconductor layer becomes lower than        the end portion of the gate layer contiguous to the gate        insulating film,    -   (7) introducing second conductivity type impurities in the        semiconductor layer, thereby forming, in the semiconductor        layer, a first semiconductor region which is positioned        shallower than the bottom of the trench and at the same time, is        in contact with the gate insulating film, and    -   (8) introducing first conductivity type impurities in the first        semiconductor region, thereby forming, in the first        semiconductor region, a second semiconductor region which is        positioned shallower than the first semiconductor region and at        the same time, is contact with the gate insulating film.

Also provided is a method for fabricating a semiconductor integratedcircuit device, which comprises:

-   -   etching both an insulating film formed over the main surface of        a semiconductor substrate and the semiconductor substrate,        thereby forming a connecting hole reaching the inside of the        semiconductor substrate,    -   causing selective retreat of the insulating film relative to the        semiconductor substrate, thereby widening the connecting hole so        as to expose the main surface of the semiconductor substrate,        and    -   forming a conductive film in the connecting hole.

Also provided is a semiconductor integrated circuit device, wherein aconnecting hole is formed in an insulating film formed over the mainsurface of a semiconductor substrate so as to reach the semiconductorsubstrate,

-   -   the connecting hole has an exposing portion of the main surface        of the semiconductor substrate and a portion reaching the        semiconductor substrate,    -   a conductive film is formed in the connecting hole, and    -   the conductive film is electrically connected with the        semiconductor substrate both at the exposing portion of the main        surface of the semiconductor substrate and the portion reaching        the semiconductor substrate.

By the above-described means, the upper surface of the trench-gateconductive layer is formed equal to or higher than the main surface ofthe semiconductor substrate, making it possible to prevent a sourceoffset.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a semiconductor device according toEmbodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating the semiconductor deviceaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along a linea-a of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a longitudinal fragmentary cross-sectional view illustrating,in the order of steps, the semiconductor device according to Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a partially enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 20 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 22 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is an equivalent circuit view of MISFET having a protectivediode disposed thereon according to Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 28 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 29 is a partially-enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional viewillustrating, in the order of steps, the semiconductor device accordingto the another embodiment 1 of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described.In all the drawings for describing the embodiments, like members of afunction will be identified by like reference numerals and overlappingdescriptions will be omitted.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a power MISFET having a trench-gatestructure, which will be the semiconductor device according toEmbodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan viewillustrating the portion a of FIG. 1 in an enlarged scale and FIG. 3 isa longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along a line a-a of FIG. 2.

The MISFET of this embodiment is formed on a semiconductor substrateobtained, for example, by forming an epitaxial layer 2 on an n⁺-typesemiconductor body 1, for example, made of single crystal silicon by theepitaxial growth technique. This MISFET is disposed in the form of arectangular ring along the outer periphery of the semiconductorsubstrate and it is formed within a region surrounded by a fieldinsulating film 3 (shown by a double slash in FIG. 2) having arectangular portion inside of the corner. Within the above-describedregion, a plurality of hexagonal or flat pentagonal cells (semiconductorisland region) having a trench-gate structure are disposed regularly anda mesh-gate structure wherein gates are two-dimensionally disposed inthe lattice form and cells are connected in parallel each other isformed. The trench-gate structure is thus formed to separate the mainsurface of the semiconductor substrate into semiconductor island regionsfor cells.

In each cell, that is, in each semiconductor island region, an n⁻-typefirst semiconductor layer 2 a formed over the semiconductor body 1serves as a drain region, a p-type second semiconductor layer 2 b formedover the first semiconductor layer 2 a serves as a base region wherein achannel is to be formed, and an n⁺-type third semiconductor layer 2 cformed over the second semiconductor layer 2 b serves as a sourceregion, thus forming a vertical FET.

A trench gate (gate electrode) 4 is formed, via a gate insulating film5, in a trench which extends from the main surface of the semiconductorsubstrate to the n⁻-type second semiconductor layer 2 a which will be adrain region. As the trench gate 4, for example impurity-introducedpolycrystalline silicon is employed, while the gate insulating film 5 ismade of a multilayer film obtained, for example, by successivelystacking a thermal oxide film of about 27 nm thick and a deposition filmof about 50 nm thick.

As illustrated in FIGS. 19 to 21 which will be described later, theupper surface 4 a of the trench gate 4 of this embodiment is formedhigher than the surface of the third semiconductor layer 2 c, which willbe a source region, that is, the main surface of the semiconductorsubstrate. Such a constitution makes it possible to prevent the trenchgate 4 from getting out of the source region, that is, preventoccurrence of a source offset even if the source region is made shallow.The trench gate 4 is desired to have a substantially flat or convexupper surface.

The trench gates 4 of adjacent cells are connected each other, thusforming a mesh-gate structure wherein they are disposedtwo-dimensionally in the form of a lattice. The trench gate 4 of each ofthe cells positioned at the outer periphery is connected, for example,with a polycrystalline-silicon-made gate wiring 6 in the vicinity at theouter periphery of a semiconductor chip.

The gate wiring 6 is electrically connected with a gate guard ring 8(partially shown by a broken line in FIG. 2) which is formed thereoverthrough an interlayer insulating film 7 and is, for example, made ofsilicon-containing aluminum. The gate guard ring 8 is integrated with arectangular gate electrode 9 (partially shown by a broken line in FIG.2) which is disposed at the rectangular portion of the field insulatingfilm 3. The gate electrode 9 has a connecting region (shown by a brokenline in FIG. 1) with the gate 4.

A third semiconductor layer 2 c, which will be a source, is electricallyconnected with a source wiring 10 (partially shown by a broken line inFIG. 2) which is formed over the main surface of the semiconductorsubstrate through the interlayer insulating film 7 and is, for example,made of silicon-containing aluminum. The source wiring 10 has aconnecting region (shown by a broken line in FIG. 1) with the thirdsemiconductor layer 2 c, which will be a source. This source wiring 10is electrically connected with not only third semiconductor layer 2 cwhich will be a source but also a p⁺-type contact layer 11 disposed inthe second semiconductor layer 2 b to make the base potential, that is,the potential of a channel forming region constant.

As is illustrated in FIG. 3 or 22, a protective diode 12 having aback-to-back structure is disposed between the gate and source. In theprotective diode 12, the n⁺-type semiconductor regions 12 a and p-typesemiconductor regions 12 b are alternately formed in the form of aconcentric ring, and with the n⁺-type semiconductor regions 12 at bothends are electrically connected the gate electrode 9 and source wiring10, respectively. A shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 27, theprotective diode is disposed between the gate and the source forprotecting breakdown of the gate insulating film from the surge from thesource.

At the outer periphery of the field insulating film 3, disposed is asource guard ring 13 obtained by connecting an n⁺-type semiconductorregion 13 a disposed over the main surface of the semiconductorsubstrate with a wiring 13 b (partially shown by a broken line in FIG.2), for example, made of silicon-containing aluminum. Similar to thesource wiring 10, the wiring 13 b of the source guard ring 13 isconnected with the n⁺-type semiconductor region 12 a of the protectivediode 12.

The gate wiring 6 and gate guard ring 8 are disposed over the fieldinsulating film 3 disposed in the form of a rectangular ring, while thegate electrode 9 and protective diode 12 are disposed over therectangular portion disposed at the corner of the field insulating film3.

Along the field insulating film 3 in the rectangular ring form, a p-typewell 14 is formed therebelow. By connecting the p-type well 14 with theterminal portion of the trench gate 4 through the gate insulating film5, a depletion layer can be gently extended below the field insulatingfilm 3 and discontinuity of the depletion layer can be prevented. Thep-type well 14 therefore functions as a field relaxing portion forrelaxing the electric field at the terminal portion of the trench gate4.

All over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, a protectiveinsulating film 15 is formed, for example, by stacking polyimide on asilicon oxide film, which has been obtained by plasma CVD using as amain source gas tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), to cover the gate guard ring8, gate electrode 9, source wiring 10 and source guard ring 13. Acontact hole is made in this protective insulating film 15 to partiallyexpose the gate electrode 9 and source wiring 10. The gate electrode 9and source wiring 10 to be exposed by this contact hole will becomeconnecting regions with the gate and source, respectively. Electricconnection to each of these connecting regions is conducted by wirebonding or the like.

As the connecting region with the drain, a drain electrode 16 which iselectrically conductive with the n⁺-type semiconductor substrate 1 isformed, for example, as a nickel-titanium-nickel-silver laminated filmall over the reverse side of the semiconductor substrate, and the drainelectrode 16 is electrically connected with a lead frame by a conductiveadhesive.

A fabrication method of the above-described semiconductor device willnext be described based on FIGS. 4 to 26.

Over the n⁺ semiconductor body 1, for example, made of single crystalsilicon having arsenic (As) introduced therein, an n⁻ type epitaxiallayer 2 having a lower concentration than the semiconductor body 1 isformed to give a thickness of about 5 μm by epitaxial growth. A siliconoxide film of about 40 nm thick is then formed over the main surface ofthis semiconductor substrate, for example, by thermal oxidation,followed by the formation, as a mask of a silicon nitride (SiN) filmover this silicon oxide film in the rectangular ring form along theouter periphery of the semiconductor substrate. A field insulating film3 having a rectangular portion inside of the corner is then formed bythermal oxidation in self alignment with the silicon nitride film. Alongthe inner periphery of the field insulating film 3, ions, for example,boron (B) are implanted and the impurities thus introduced are diffused,whereby a p-type well 14 which will be a field relaxing portion isformed as shown in FIG. 4. The impurity concentration of the p-type well14 is, for example, set equal to or lower than that of the secondsemiconductor layer 2 b.

A silicon oxide film is then formed over the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate. Within a cell forming region surrounded by thefield insulating film 3, the silicon oxide film is patterned to form acontact hole which exposes a portion of the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate over which a trench gate (gate electrode) of amesh-gate structure wherein gates are two-dimensionally arranged in thelattice form is formed. With this silicon oxide film as a mask, a trenchof, for example, about 1.6 μm thick is formed in the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate by dry etching. This trench separates the mainsurface of the semiconductor substrate into plural semiconductor islandregions 2 on which a cell is to be formed.

The trench formation is completed, for example, by making a trench bydry etching, removing the silicon oxide film, which will be a mask, bywet etching and then chemical dry etching to remove the angular portionat the bottom edge. A gate insulating film 5 is then formed by stackinga silicon oxide film of about 50 nm thick over a thermal oxide film ofabout 27 nm thick by CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) as illustrated inFIGS. 5 and 15.

All over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate including theinside of the trench, a polycrystalline silicon film 4′ which will be aconductive film of the trench gate, is formed by CVD. Into thispolycrystalline silicon film 4′, impurities (ex. phosphorus) forreducing its resistance are introduced during or after deposition. Theimpurity concentration is set to fall within a range of from 1E18/cm³ to1E21/cm³ (1×10¹⁸ to 1×10²¹/cm³), which is higher than the that of then⁻-type epitaxial layer 2 (main surface of the semiconductor substrate).Owing to such a high impurity concentration, accelerated oxidizingphenomenon which will be described later can be used effectively. Thisstage is illustrated in FIG. 6.

After the polycrystalline silicon film 4′ is etched back by multistageoxidation wherein oxidation and etching are repeated several times andis thereby flattened, it is removed by etching, whereby a trench gate 4is formed in the trench. Simultaneously with this etching, a gate wiring6 connected with the trench gate 4 and a polycrystalline silicon film 9a which will lie below the gate electrode 9 are formed over therectangular ring portion of the field insulating film 3, which areillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 16.

The flattening upon formation of the trench gate 4 prevents theformation of a concave portion on the upper surface of the trench gate4. If the concave portion is formed, formation of an insulating film inthe subsequent step is not sufficient on this concave portion and at thesame time, the progress of etching is accelerated, which happens toexpose the trench gate 4. The above-described flattening prevents suchexposure of the trench gate 4. Flattening can alternatively be conductedby CMP (Chemical Mechanical Polishing).

The unnecessary portion of the silicon oxide film remaining on the mainsurface of the semiconductor substrate is then removed. After exposureof the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, an insulating film17 made of, for example, a silicon oxide film, is formed by thermaloxidation all over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate andtrench gate 4. Since the impurity concentration of the polycrystallinesilicon film which constitutes the trench gate 4 is higher than that ofthe main surface of the semiconductor substrate, the insulating film 17is formed, by the accelerated oxidation phenomenon, to be thicker on thetrench gate 4 (thickness: L1) than on the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate (thickness: L2). Upon formation of theinsulating film 17 having a greater film thickness (L1) over the trenchgate 4 by accelerated oxidation, the insulating film 17 is formed overthe main surface of the low-concentration epitaxial layer 2 so that thefilm thickness (L1) of the insulating film over the trench gate 4 can bemade greater than that (L2) over the main surface of the epitaxial layer2. This stage is illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 17.

The insulating film 17 is then removed by dry etching and the mainsurface of the semiconductor substrate is exposed with thethickly-formed insulating film 17 being left on the trench gate 4, asillustrated in FIGS. 9 and 18.

Dry etching is then conducted using a CF₄ gas to selectively removesilicon, relative to silicon oxide, from the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate, whereby the main surface 2 a of thesemiconductor substrate is made lower than the upper surface 4 a of thetrench gate 4. In other words, the upper surface 4 a of the trench gate4 covered with silicon oxide is formed equal to or higher than thesurface of the third semiconductor layer 2 c, which will be a sourceregion, that is, the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, asillustrated in FIGS. 10 and 19. By oxidation, the etching damage isremoved and an oxide film 17 a for reinforcing the gate insulating film5 and insulating film 17 are formed as illustrated in FIG. 20.

After formation of an insulating film 12 c made of silicon oxide, apolycrystalline silicon film is deposited over the insulating film 12 c.Then, p-type impurities are introduced into the polycrystalline siliconfilm, followed by patterning, on the rectangular portion of the fieldinsulating film 3, into a concentric ring form surrounding thepolycrystalline silicon film 9 a on the gate electrode 9. Uponpatterning, the insulating film 12 c serves as an etching stopper forpreventing the trench gate 4 and gate wiring 6 from being patterned.Then, an n⁺-type semiconductor region 12 a is formed, for example, byion implantation, whereby a protective diode 12 having the n⁺-typesemiconductor region 12 a and p-type semiconductor region 12 b formedalternately in the concentric ring form is formed as illustrated inFIGS. 11 and 22.

Ions such as p-type impurities (ex. boron) are then implanted all overthe surface of the epitaxial layer 2, followed by diffusion treatmentfor about 100 minutes in a 1% O₂-containing nitrogen gas atmosphere atabout 1100° C., whereby a p-type second semiconductor layer 2 b, whichwill be a channel forming region, is formed. Then, ions such as n-typeimpurities (ex. arsenic) are selectively implanted, followed byannealing treatment for about 30 minutes in a 1% O₂-containing nitrogengas atmosphere at about 950° C., whereby a third semiconductor layer 2c, which will be a source region, is formed. The deeper portion of theepitaxial layer 2 into which impurities have not been introduced, morespecifically, a portion of the epitaxial layer 2 lying between thesecond semiconductor layer 2 b and semiconductor body 1 becomes thefirst semiconductor layer 2 a serving as a drain region. The number ofthe steps may be reduced by simultaneously conducting ion implantationof the n⁺-type semiconductor region 12 a and the first semiconductorlayer 2 a. This stage is illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 21.

Since the second semiconductor layer 2 b, which will be a channelforming region, and the third semiconductor layer 2 c, which will be asource region, are formed by ion implantation after the main surface 2 dof the semiconductor substrate is lowered relative to the upper surface4 a of the trench gate 4 by causing the semiconductor substrate toretreat, the profile in the depth direction in the semiconductorsubstrate 2 and the depth of each of the second semiconductor layer 2 band third semiconductor layer 2 c can be controlled precisely, whichmakes it possible to accelerate thinning of the second semiconductorlayer 2 b and third semiconductor layer 2 c. In short, the depth of thesecond semiconductor layer 2 b can be controlled precisely, making itpossible to control the channel length precisely.

All over the main surface of the semiconductor substrate, an interlayerinsulating film 7 is formed by depositing, for example, BPSG to give afilm thickness of about 500 nm.

By anisotropic dry etching using a CHF₃ gas, a contact hole CH (contacthole) is made in the interlayer insulating film 7 to expose each of thethird semiconductor layer 2 c which will be a source region, gate wiring6, source guard ring semiconductor region 13 a and a connecting regionwith the protective diode. All over the main surface of thesemiconductor substrate including the inside of each of the contactholes, a conductive film (metal film) made of, for example,silicon-containing aluminum is formed. By patterning of the metal film,the gate guard ring 8, gate electrode 9, source wiring 10 and sourceguard ring 13 are formed, as illustrated in FIG. 12.

Conventionally, a contact layer 11 has been formed to extend from themain surface of the semiconductor substrate to the second semiconductorlayer 2 b, and with this contact layer 11 and the third semiconductorlayer 2 c around the contact layer 11, the source wiring 10 has beenconnected. In this embodiment, on the other hand, a contact hole CH isformed to extend to the second semiconductor layer 2 b by etching asillustrated in FIG. 23, followed by direct introduction of p-typeimpurities such as boron into the second semiconductor layer 2 b exposedby the contact hole CH as illustrated in FIG. 24. The p-type contactlayer 11 is formed deeply by such a constitution, leading to a reductionin the generation amount of avalanche. Upon formation of the source, amask for covering the contact layer 11 becomes unnecessary so that asubsequent photoresist step can be omitted. If the contact layer 11 isnot required at the contact portion of another contact hole CH owing tothe fabrication of the device into IC, it is possible to form a contactlayer 11 only for a contact hole CH to be electrically connected easilywith the source wiring 10 by using another mask covering the contact.

In this Embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 25, after introduction ofimpurities from the contact hole CH, silicon oxide is removed from theinterlayer insulating film 7 by selective etching relative to silicon inthe main surface of the semiconductor substrate, whereby the surface ofthe third semiconductor layer 2 c is exposed in self alignment with thecontact hole CH. As illustrated in FIG. 26, such a constitution makes itpossible to enlarge the contact area between the third semiconductorlayer 2 c and source wiring 10, thereby reducing the connectionresistance.

In the next place, a protective insulating film 15 which coverstherewith the whole main surface of the semiconductor substrate isformed by applying and stacking polyimide onto a silicon oxide filmformed by plasma CVD using tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) gas as a main sourcegas. In the resulting protective insulating film 15, a contact hole toexpose the connecting region of each of the gate electrode 9 and thesource wiring 10 is formed, followed by polishing treatment on thereverse side of the n⁺-type semiconductor body 1. A drain electrode 14is then formed, for example, by successively depositing and stackingnickel, titanium, nickel and silver on the reverse side as illustratedin FIG. 3.

In this Embodiment, the p-type well 14 is disposed as a field relaxingportion in the form of a rectangular ring. Alternatively, it is possibleto make a contact hole in the field insulating film 3 and introducingimpurities from this contact hole to have the p-type wells 14 studdedbelow the field insulating film in the ring form. In this constitution,the field relaxing portion can be formed after the formation of the gatewiring 6.

Embodiment 2

In FIGS. 28 and 29, another embodiment of the present invention isillustrated.

This embodiment differs from the above-described one in the step forlowering the main surface 2 d of the semiconductor substrate relative tothe upper surface 4 a of the trench gate 4. This embodiment issubstantially similar to the above-described one in the other steps so adescription of the other steps is omitted.

The fabricating method of the semiconductor device according to thisembodiment will next be described based on FIGS. 28 and 29.

After the step of the above-described embodiment as illustrated in FIG.18, a photoresist film 30 is for example formed, as illustrated in FIG.28, over the insulating film 17 overlying the trench gate 4.

With the photoresist film 30 as a mask, the semiconductor substrate 2 issubjected to isotropic etching to selectively etch the semiconductorsubstrate 2 relative to the insulating films 5,17, whereby the mainsurface 2 d of the semiconductor substrate is made lower than the uppersurface 4 a of the trench gate 4 as illustrated in FIG. 29.

The weak insulating film 17 formed by accelerated oxidation is thusprotected by causing the surface of the semiconductor substrate toretreat with the photoresist film 30 over the insulating film 17 as amask, which makes it possible to prevent the invasion of an Si etchinggas into the trench gate 4 and, in turn, etching of the trench gate 4.

After the removal of the photoresist film 30, steps on and after theformation of an insulating film 17 a, that is, the steps on and afterFIG. 20, are conducted in a similar manner to the above-describedembodiment, whereby a semiconductor device is formed.

According to this embodiment, it becomes possible to protect the weakinsulating film 17 and prevent the trench gate 4 from being etchedduring etching of the semiconductor substrate 2 for causing the surfaceof the semiconductor substrate to retreat, leading to an improvement inthe reliability of a semiconductor device.

The inventions made by present inventors have so far been describedspecifically based on the above-described embodiments. It should howeverbe borne in mind that the present invention is not limited by them, butcan be modified within an extent not departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

The present invention can be adapted, for example, to IGBT (IntegratedGate Bipolar Transistor), as well as power MISFET.

Advantages of the representative inventions, among the inventionsdisclosed by the present application, will next be described briefly.

-   -   (1) The present invention is effective for preventing a source        offset by forming the upper surface of the trench-gate        conductive layer equal to or higher than the main surface of the        semiconductor substrate.    -   (2) In the present invention, the above-described advantage (1)        makes it possible to promote thinning of a source.    -   (3) In the present invention, the above-described advantage (2)        makes it possible to promote miniaturization of a cell.

1-17. (canceled)
 18. A semiconductor device including a trench-gateMISFET, comprising: a semiconductor body having a first conduction type;a drain region of the trench-gate MISFET having the first conductiontype, formed over the semiconductor body; a base region of the trenchgate MISFET having a second conduction type which is opposite to thefirst conduction type, formed over the drain region; a source region ofthe trench-gate MISFET having the first conduction type, formed over thebase region; a trench extending from an upper surface of the sourceregion to the drain region; a gate insulating film of the trench-gateMISFET formed on an inner wall of the trench; a gate electrode of thetrench-gate MISFET formed on the gate insulating film; an insulatingfilm formed over the source region and gate electrode; a contact holeformed in the insulating film and exposing the source region and baseregion; and a source wiring formed in the contact hole and electricallyconnected with the source region and base region; wherein the contacthole is comprised of a lower portion and an upper portion; the lowerportion of the contact hole penetrates the source region and reaches thebase region; and the upper portion of the contact hole reaches the uppersurface of the source region.
 19. The semiconductor device according toclaim 18, wherein a width of the upper portion of the contact hole islarger than that of the lower portion of the contact hole.
 20. Thesemiconductor device according to claim 18, wherein the lower portion ofthe contact hole reaches a side surface of the source region.
 21. Thesemiconductor device according to the claim 18, wherein the first andsecond conduction types are an n type and a p type, respectively. 22.The semiconductor device according to claim 18, wherein a channel isformed in the base region.
 23. The semiconductor device according toclaim 18, wherein the semiconductor device has a plurality of the trenchgate MISFETs; the source regions, base regions, and drain regions of theplurality of the trench-gate MISFETs are electrically connectedrespectively; and the plurality of the trench-gate MISFETs comprise apower MISFET.
 24. The semiconductor device according to claim 18,wherein a drain electrode is formed over a back surface of thesemiconductor body; and the drain electrode and the drain region areelectrically connected.
 25. The semiconductor device according to claim18, wherein a contact layer is formed in the base region; the contactlayer and the base region have a same conduction type; an impurityconcentration of the contact layer is greater than that of the baseregion; and the lower portion of the contact hole reaches the contactlayer.